The invention relates to an oven for food products with means for controlling the supply of heat in accordance with the progress of the cooking effected.
Ovens are known in which a temperature sensor is pushed into the food to be cooked which monitors the temperature development. Long experience with manual adjustment has built up a body of data which enables a feedback loop to be established around a temperature sensor and a power controller. This enables a very precise cooking and consistent results, provided the sensor is fitted absolutely correctly into the food. However, the need for an invasive sensor is percieved as impractical, as it requires frequent cleaning, and the need for high temperature plugs and sockets which are exposed to the humid, perhaps smoky and fatty atmosphere in the oven makes this solution less attractive. On the other hand, non-invasive techniques generally require a knowledge of the weight of the food.
In EP 0 239 290 B1 there is described a partial solution to the above problems in conjunction with a microwave oven where, after a cooling-down period to a specific temperature, the temperature rise due to application of heat is determined and used in conjunction with stored information for deciding on remaining cooking time and a maximum temperature of the oven during this time. However, the need for recalibration by means of cooling is complex and time-consuming, and the precision in the determination of the temperature rise is not sufficient to consistently provide a high quality result, in particular with an extended range of foodstuffs, including as cakes and pastry. There is hence scope for improving such methods for cooking and baking with minimal involvement of the user, in other terms there is a need for an expert-system type solution to the general problem of cooking food to a preferred quality.